My Addiction: Finding the Beauty in a (sometimes) Unbeautiful World
by Denielle

Comment by tanguera:
Nice work, Denielle. You have good instincts, and they show in this image. For me, there is something about the composition that is a bit weak. This is a nice "find", but the pov is odd. It's oblique, but lacks "dimension", if that makes sense. The happy "accident" of finding a person in the stone is not as rewarding as it might be, because he is small, dark, and chopped off at the knees, which at first glance makes him appear to be an amputee. That is what I thought the image was conveying - but it looked odd. I think some vignetting might have helped the viewer focus more towards the person; as it is, it's all much of the same tones throughout the image, which makes our eye wander all over the place without really settling anywhere.

My Addiction: Finding the Beauty in a (sometimes) Unbeautiful World
by Denielle

Comment by KfirLevAri:
This is only my opinion, so feel free to ignore it if it's not helping ;)
I gave this picture 5.
The reason was that I felt like something is missing.
If I'll try to reproduce the way I experience this image, it goes something like this - first my eyes went to the person on the right (probably due to the blue color).
Since he is looking at something outside the area of the picture, me eyes instantly moved to next subject on the far left side.
So the moment I focused on the lamp (probably since it's yellow over the gray areas), again I got the sense that it's not connected to the main area of the picture, because it's made of metal and the photo was mainly stone (stone was the impression while I moved from him to the lamp).
And only then my eyes focused on the gray stones of the building.
Now, what I described took place in less then a 1-2 seconds, but still, it led me to feel like something is missing for me as a viewer in order to understand this picture.
Only then I've read the title, and I must say that it didn't help me to change the first impression ;)
because I didn't understand what supposed to be un-beautiful here.

I guess that if you had crop off the lamp or the person, then I would have experienced it in a very different way.

Message edited by author 2012-03-30 12:55:25.

My Addiction: Finding the Beauty in a (sometimes) Unbeautiful World
by Denielle

Comment by blindjustice:
This is a really nice sentiment, and a very good image. Good detail and eye movement, from left to right and back again, and very good handling of the gray-tones, which is super difficult. Perhaps the message missed or was not perceived as a "garden variety addiction." But I will say, this is one of your best so far, score is unimportant and fruitless to contemplate. Keep finding the beauty, keep coming up with shots like this.

The Key is Under the Mat
by Denielle

Comment by cutout:
thats funny,i had the same idea ,only iwould have not shown the key at all
but i thought that would have been the brown one
so i left it (the challenge) alone

Close Your Eyes... and Feel The Warmth
by Denielle

Comment by mrchhas:
Very Very beautiful - curious to know how much editing went into this! love the contrast of the leaves, sun, and sky.

My Addiction: Finding the Beauty in a (sometimes) Unbeautiful World
by Denielle

Comment by JamesDowning:
Nice image Denielle. Probably my favorites of yours so far... didn't spot it originally because I didn't have time to vote on this challenge.

Sticking Around
by Denielle

Comment by neenee1999:
Nice detail!

Italian Wine Bottles
by Denielle

Comment by KarenNfld:
Not so sure I like the negative image.

Fun in the Sun
by Denielle

Comment by PennyStreet:
Sweet looking kid and he looks great in glasses!
- if this were my picture, I probably would have cropped the tree from the top to make it tighter and bring the aspect ratio a little closer to standard viewing, but that's just me...

Tangled
by Denielle

Comment by dali_lama_2k:
This is nice, but feels like it could be a bit darker and moodier. btw, "macro" on the 70-300 isn't "true macro" (macro being that the image on the sensor, film, etc. is the same size as the real object or larger) but instead is about 1/2 macro. Not a criticism, just an observation. Sorry, I'm a little anal when it comes to terminology :) I noticed a macro lens on your wish list, may I recommend the Canon 100mm f/2.8? It gets excellent reviews and isn't ridiculously expensive.